The one question that shooters, CCW permit holders and law enforcement officers have been asking for years is “When will Glock provide us with a single-stack 9mm pistol?” The answer is the newest addition to Glock’s long line of excellent service, competition and self-defense pistols, the much-anticipated Glock 43. It was designed to be ultra-concealable, accurate and comfortable, built with Glock’s legendary reliability, quality and attention to the smallest detail.

The Glock 43 is a truly slim pistol, with an overall width of 1.02 inches and a slide width of 0.87 inches. Its overall length is 6.26 inches. By comparison, the 9mm G26 has an overall length of 6.41 inches, while the .380 G42’s is 5.94 inches. The trigger, sights, manual of arms and disassembly procedure is typical Glock, so all previous training and experience with shooting and maintaining a Glock pistol is directly transferrable to the G43. The single-stack magazine holds six rounds, which is perfect for duty and civilian concealed-carry use—with the added benefit of having ammo commonality with all 9mm service and duty weapons.

So how does it shoot? Well, I was recently invited to Glock’s headquarters in Smyrna, Georgia, for a chance to do just that! I was literally one of the very first shooters who was able to send bullets downrange using this long-awaited pistol. The Glock personnel present were like parents showing off their baby, bursting with pride and anxious to have others share their joy.

At the range, the pistol surprised me. In both slow and rapid fire, the pistol had recoil more like a .380, so the sights stayed on target with little effort. Like other Glocks I have shot, the recoil impulse went straight back, feeling more like a push than a jarring buck. Like other Glock pistols, the G43 has a recoil-absorbing frame, a dual recoil spring assembly like Gen4 models and an excellent grip angle. All of this combines to make the pistol comfortable to shoot accurately. Why is that important? If a firearm is uncomfortable to shoot—or worse, difficult to control—a shooter will be reluctant to practice. Without frequent practice, no shooter can be confident. So who wants to stake their safety on a pistol that they are not proficient with? The G43 is fun to shoot and accurate beyond most other concealed-carry pistols I’ve tested.

The rounds we expended at the Glock range easily stayed in the center-mass of the target at 21 feet, well within the usual distance of self-defense engagements. The G43’s superb factory sights help it to be a real tack driver. The G43 will debut at the NRA Annual Meeting held on April 10-12, 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee. Unlike other rollouts, where the products are still a gleam in the eye of the manufacturer with the planned delivery months or even years in anticipation, shipments of the Glock 43 will begin directly following the convention.

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